Easter

Easter clothes=mandatory photo ops, right? Not bad results...you know how hard it is to get pictures of four wiggly kids! As I looked at the many, many shots we took, it struck me that there were some beautiful pictures of individual kids that were worth a little cropping time.

Austin, 4 years 11 months

Esther, 2 years 9 months

Joshua, 11 months

Jude, 11 months

We even got a pretty nice picture of the whole family, thanks to Aunt Megan!

Happy Resurrection Day! We are having a wonderful day around here celebrating our risen Savior. Traditions like eggs and Easter baskets are fun, but I have really been trying to include more focus on Jesus this year. We searched for and opened two Resurrection Eggs each evening this week and read the biblical accounts of Jesus' last week. (And the kids got to search for an extra egg with candy in it...that was a big hit of course.) Then today after lunch we put a different spin on our Easter baskets, an idea I got from Oh, Amanda. I'm not sure how much of an impression it made on Austin but hopefully some more seeds were planted. Read the post I linked to and the pictures will make a lot more sense.

Our baskets (previously full of rocks) now covered by Jesus' "blood," while
Jesus' basket has our rocks.

Our gifts...stuff we don't deserve but are freely given because someone
else paid a price, just like salvation.

One more picture, just because. It is crazy how often we find the twins in similar positions or doing similar gestures like they are here. Fun twin stuff!

Race Day!

I ran a 5k today! I started running in September, have spent a lot of time on the treadmill (thank you, winter) and FINALLY ran a race! The best part was that I got to run with my sister Megan. She started training a few months before me and has already run a few races. Her Christmas present to me was a trip to Pennsylvania so we could complete my first race together! (Read her account of our race here.)

About to head to the start. See the fun shirts Megan made for us? C.E. MAJor, Inc.
was a "business" we started in our playroom circa 1989. We answered phone calls,
wrote checks, made signs...helped us become the women we are today. :-)

It was a little chilly before the race started; can you tell I am wearing four layers? But it was a beautiful sunny day (sunshine! too rare in western PA) and we were plenty warm by mid-race. We trekked an hour and a half north of Indiana for our race, to Cook Forest. The course ran alongside a river with trees and hills all around. So scenic.

When I started a couch to 5k program in the fall, my goal was to be able to run an entire 5k, no walking. And we did it! We do not have an official time yet but we're thinking it was in the 32:30 range.

Appropriate signage!

The only thing that could have made today better would've been having all four of my kids there. After we got an email on Thursday with some details about parking, the possible need to take a shuttle to the start,  etc. we determined that it would be really tough to take the twins. So we hired our beloved Miss Anne to babysit. But I was thankful to have Zach and my two oldest babies there to cheer us on.

Look at this great sign! It made me cry a little when I first saw it.

Nearing the finish line, coming in to give my kiddos a high five. Sure we're a
little blurry...we're running FAST! Well, sort of fast. :-)

Pretty girls in pink at the end of the race.

It felt pretty amazing to complete this race. I'm not sure I had cumulatively run a mile in the decade preceding September, and today I ran 3.1 miles with a smile on my face. So I can say it: I'm a runner! I am 32 years old, have four little kids, and am in the best shape of my life. Feels good! Thank you, Zach, for supporting me through all the time I've spent at the Y. Thank you, Megan, for coming so far to run with me.

I've spent a lot of time pondering this new identity I've made for myself as a runner. You see, this is the last thing I would have imagined myself becoming. Back in high school, I was a complete non-athlete. Orchestra, Scholars Bowl, and French Club were more my thing. One of the happiest days of those four years was when I walked out of P.E. for the last time knowing I would never have to take the class again. But thankfully we are not locked into our high school identities for life!

Tomorrow is Easter. A day for celebrating new life. A day to celebrate that because of Christ's death and resurrection I can have a new identity that is so much more than being a runner or a mother or whatever else defines me. Thank you, Jesus, for this new life!

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature ; the old things passed away ; behold, new things have come. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

This Week's Adventures

This weeks's adventures, as documented by my iPod camera.

Pirate treasure hunting with a buddy who came over after school. I hid necklaces
and bracelets, they searched with sword in hand. Fun stuff.

Grocery store trip with the three littlest. I have been doing my shopping alone
on the weekends but with Zach busy with work last weekend and out of town
this weekend, a mid-week trip was a necessity. Thankfully the boys can sit up in
a cart now. It's like this cart was made for twins, huh?

Joshua's first cheerio

Jude's first cheerio. He makes this face with every new food. I pulled out
the camera just because I knew he would. :-)

"Finger painting." Except a certain child doesn't like using his fingers (too
messy?) so we use brushes. This was just the beginning; we now have two
VERY soggy pieces of paint-covered paper.

Three Months of Moments

My big kids are my snugglers.

We love our grandparents.

Book sharing

Do you know who's who? (Answer: Jude on the left)

Girly-girl mechanic :-)

First time sitting up for a bath (It's Jude)

Laughing with Joshua

Apart from the food on her face, am I right that Esther looks awfully grown-up
here? Where is my baby?!

Missing Pictures

It has probably seemed like I've given up blogging. Truly not my intent. And last time I tried uploading a picture I was told I'd met my storage quota, I'm not down with paying for picture storage online if I can possibly get it free, so blogging went by the wayside. But then for some reason today I decided to research storage options during a spare moment and my google account told me I'm only at 19.99% of my quota! Did they increase it sometime in the last three months?

At any rate, I am sure I will regret the lack of blog posts in the last three months when I someday attempt to complete the twins' baby books. (Which I have actually purchased!!! Finally!) But I'll tell you right now, if I ever finish them and you ever have cause to see them, there will be a lot of probably-not-accurate, Mommy's-just-guessing info in there when it comes to things like when they first smiled.

Perhaps I will try to do some catching up in a later post, but for now, here are some pictures I intended to post when I wrote about things I love about Esther.

Like father, like daughter?